In less than a year since the debut of the smart #1, Smart Malaysia has now introduced the smart #3 to our market, essentially offering a “coupe #1” for us Malaysians. Mirroring the smart #1’s variant offerings, the smart #3 is also offered in three variants – the Pro, Premium, and BRABUS. In these pictures, we have the smart #3 BRABUS, the hottest version of them all with a price tag of RM255,000.
While it may be tempting to call this a coupe version of the #1, the #3’s dimensional differences compared to the #1 are quite significant, with the car being a bit longer, wider, and lower. Even its wheelbase is slightly longer, thus affecting its overall driving dynamics.
Shown here in a striking Photon Orange colour scheme, the smart # screams funky and futuristic at the same time. Its curvy yet aggressive styling also suggests an androgynous appearance, thus possibly appealing to both genders quite easily. As this is the BRABUS variant of the Smart #3, it gets an all-around BRABUS treatment and this includes the more aggressive bumpers, side skirts, and wheels.
And if size matters to you, the smart #3 BRABUS also gets a bigger set of 20-inch alloy wheels (as compared to Smart #1 BRABUS’ 19-inch wheels). What does seem a bit odd on the Smart #3 would be its choice of tyres which appears to be a set of Continental EcoContact tyres. Being a performance EV, one would expect it to come with more performance-oriented tyres instead.
Speaking of performance, the highlight of the Smart #3 is indeed its performance. Though it may seem cute and funky, this little electric car is capable of a super-quick 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 3.7 seconds. This is enabled by its dual-motor setup, which outputs 428 hp (metric) and 543 Nm. But even with that much power, Smart has decided to electronically limit the #3 BRABUS’ top speed to a conservative 180 km/h.
As for its range, the smart #3 BRABUS isn’t the champion in its variant lineup as it has prioritized performance over range. Utilising the same 66 kWh NCM battery as the Premium variant (which has 455 km of range), the Smart #3 is only capable of a WLTP range of 415 km.
Charging is a strong point for the smart #3 BRABUS as it can handle a maximum AC charging rate of 22 kW. This means that a full charge (from 0%) will only take 3 hours (if your home or office is equipped with a 22 kW charger). As for DC charging, the smart #3 BRABUS can handle a maximum rate of 150 kW and charging from 10% to 80% should only take 29 minutes.
Inside, the smart #3 BRABUS spruces things up with a BRABUS-enhanced interior that matches its outer appearance. It differs from the #1 with its triple circular centre air vents, sports seats, and its lack of an electric sunshade (it has a fixed glass roof instead).
Smack in the centre of the dashboard is a 12.8-inch infotainment head unit that comes with a cheetah mascot to emote on behalf of the voice assistant. The instrument cluster is a shorter 9.2-inch screen and the #3 BRABUS comes with a head-up display system too.
In the safety department, the Smart #3 is equipped with a decent suite of advanced driver assistance systems. This includes items like Adaptive cruise control (ACC), Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) (including pedestrian and cyclist detection), Front collision mitigation support (FCMS), Rear collision mitigation support (RCMS), Emergency lane keep assist (ELKA), Lane keep assist (LKA), Lane departure warning (LDW), Lane departure prevention (LDP), Lane change assist (LCA), Evasive manoeuvre assist (EMA), Front cross traffic alert (FCTA), Rear cross traffic alert (RCTA), Door opening warning (DOW), Blind spot detection (BSD), Speed limited information function (SLIF), Driver performance monitoring (DPM), Highway assist (HWA), Traffic jam assist (TJA), and Automatic high beam (AHB).
GALLERY
